Back To Black
by gioalle1
Summary: There's only one person who can save Regina Mills. And someone else who is ready to do whatever she can to prevent it.


Happy Halloween, Swan Queen Nation.

This is my humble gift for you.

Swan Queen, Dark!Snow and definitely not an happy ending (sort of).

OUAT is not mine, even if it's Halloween.  
Mistakes are mine, especially the creepiest ones.

* * *

"Take me out of here!"

It's the desperation in Regina's voice that tells Emma she hasn't tried enough, that she hasn't insisted enough to save the woman she loves.

"I'm doing the best I can. I've also thought of talking with them, to find an agreement…Yes, Regina…I'm that desperate".

Emma is now close to those hated iron bars, dividing her from Regina, dividing the punishment the woman she loves has to suffer from the potential of a life they could spend together.

Emma cannot believe her eyes once more, when for the third time she succeeded in reaching the police station where Regina is held in a prison.

No magic allowing her to escape. But still a little drop of hope, helping her to survive. Or just to give her enough strength to imagine how her life could be.

A better life.

A love.

Her family.

Emma's hands give her comfort, even if those cold bars burn her skin.

"I'm gonna get you out of here, I swear". Those words sound even louder now that Emma's hand is caressing Regina's cheek.

"They won't forgive me. Now more than ever. Now that they think I corrupted you and you're by my side".

Emma tries to comfort the woman in front of her; almost a shadow, consumed by an entire month living in that cell. Regina has lost weight, she doesn't even sleep, anymore. She refuses the ridiculously insufficient amount of food they give her. Or water, where maybe someone has split.

She's in love with the Savior, but this is not the story everyone will hear in the future: Regina is the Evil Queen, who once tried to corrupt the Savior, and, eventually, she will simply pay for her sins. She will simply be defeated by the heroes.

All those heroes, living in Storybrooke.

In the name of Revenge, hands dirty with blood, they will be winners.

Emma Swan is not ready to stop fighting.

Regina Mills is almost ready to give up.

But the Savior is ready to fight for both.

"I'm going to save you. I'm going to take you out of here. We can run away…I can take Henry, open this fucking cell…my Bug will be outside and we will have our life, our family!"

Emma believes every word she says. She almost smiles, when she thinks about her yellow car waiting outside, giving them that freedom they want so much to conquer as soon as possible. And Regina stares carefully at her eyes, at her mouth, at her blonde hair. She wants to believe this woman, who had come out of nowhere just some months before and now is ready to risk her life for an Evil Queen.

"There can be a future for us…" Emma knows this promise can be true.

"Give me one night…just a few hours…"

Emma is sure she can win. They can win.

"I'll be here to save you incredibly soon, I promise you. Now try to get some sleep, I need you to be ok when I come here."

Regina is forgetting her natural resistance to every promise she has heard in her life, and is ready to believe every word this woman is giving her. Every word she hears from Emma is a gift. Nourishment for her hope.

Emma hears some noises and is ready to vanish again in the dark.

"4am. You will hear the clock tower. That will be our sign. I'll be outside, ready to save you. I promise you."

Not a kiss, not a hand on her cheek. But the promise Emma makes will help her survive. They will be together. Soon. Emma's words, repeating constantly in her head, are her lullaby for that night.

It's even darker when the bell of the clock tower rings.

One.

Two.

Three.

Four.

Regina stands up; she needs to be ready because Emma will be there in a second.

The cell has never been darker, the air is dump and her feet are freezing. Regina doesn't remember the exact moment when her shoes has been taken off, but that's not important, right now.

She's awake. She grabs the iron bars and tries to remember how freedom looks like.

She sees a black figure walking towards her. She feels a hand caressing her arm; the gesture is so familiar…Emma?

But that hand is not familiar.

"Take me out of here" Regina whispers.

But no one opens the door. No one answers to her request.

Silence.

"20 years, Regina. 20 long years…and every time I decide to be merciful and come and visit you in your miserable cell, it's this same old phrase welcoming me."

The voice is familiar, but unexpected.

"She will come and save me. She promised me" Regina tries to find some logic behind that unpleasant voice because it was Emma who should've been there with her. Making the first step to build their future.

"Oh, poor Regina…Do you still think that there may be someone willing to save you?" The laughter is terrifying.

"Yes, Snow…she will come…" Regina firmly believes there's still hope. Emma taught her so.

"Of course. A woman is going to save you. Dear Regina, I must admit I'm really worried about your mental sanity…It's not wise from you, especially since I may be the only woman who can actually save you. Or, at least, opening that window and making you see the light again, after 8 years."

Regina is definitely confused, but she tries her best to hide her surprise in the dark of her cell, not focusing too much on those words…20 years, 8 years, an evil tone in Snow's voice.

The young woman is close to her prisoner, so close she could even touch her; she realizes that there's something different in Regina's expression, a weak light in her eyes, able to survive to the darkness wrapping the cell.

Hope.

"Tell me, Regina. Who's going to save you?"

"Emma…Emma will save me!"

Snow doesn't move.

"And, excuse me if I ask…but this brave woman…who is she? But mostly, why would she save you?"

Snow will never know the answer.

But the terrible, empty scream Regina can't control, petrifying her lungs, her heart and her life will always wake Snow up every night, at 4 o'clock.

For the rest of her life.


End file.
